String performance in ‘Fiddler’ will christen JFK’s new auditorium

by ALAN RIZZO Reporter

John F. Kennedy High School students preparing for this weekend’s presentation of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” are shown during a rehearsal last week. From left are Hunter Manning, Maria Sciabarrasi, Leanora Chapman, Caitlin Cork and Andrew Cegielski. When John F. Kennedy High School presents “Fiddler on the Roof” this weekend, it will do so in an acoustically renovated auditorium, and director Matthew Refermat said the musical’s emphasis on string music will be a great way to christen the new space.

That’s because the auditorium’s walls have been lined with new acoustical tiles and because it has never played host to string musicians during a musical, with no orchestra program at the high school.

“There’s a string section in every musical; we just have never used one,” Refermat explained. “The orchestra is built around the string section in this because it’s ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ It’s based around that first violin.”

To fill that string section this year, he said the high school is bringing in musicians from the Cheektowaga Community Symphony Orchestra, who will join student, staff and alumni musicians from JFK.

“It’s been really exciting pulling that all together,” Refermat said. “There’s going to be an orchestra of 20 down there, which is larger than some Broadway shows.”

Once the longest running musical on Broadway, “Fiddler on the Roof” is set in early 20th century Russia and tells the story of a poor dairyman named Tevye, his wife Golde, and daughters Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava, who fall in love and break with tradition in their small town, where Jews and non-Jews live in a delicate balance.

Traditions are challenged as Tzeitel resists the matchmaker’s choice of a husband, Hodel falls in love and dances with a revolutionary, and Chava chooses to marry a man who isn’t Jewish.

Based on Sholem Aleichem’s book ,“Tevye and His Daughters and Other Tales,” “Fiddler on the Roof” features music by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and a script from Joseph Stein.

While unfamiliar with the musical, students playing lead roles in “Fiddler” have warmed to the show’s characters, who grapple with familiar issues such as rebelling against parental authority and pushing for change amid support for the status quo.

Playing the revolutionary Perchik, who falls in love with Hodel, junior Andrew Cegielski said that while he’s seen as a radical for ideas such as mixed gender dancing, Perchik would seem normal today.

Still, the character isn’t entirely modern, and Cegielski said straddling a line between

1905 and 2018 has been tough.

“You really have to try and put the old and the new tog ether,” he said.

Senior Sarah Wierzba has had a similar challenge in portraying Golde, who is at times outspoken but also submissive to her husband.

“When he kind of disowns Chava, she kind of just lets her go because Tevye says so,” Wierzba said. “So it’s really complicated to find a balance between being really strong, but also knowing when to take a step back.”

Other students called the musical beautiful because it sheds light on traditional values and the importance of face-to-face communication, which were necessities in 1905.

Playing Tevye, senior Hunter Manning said the method of communicating important information — by letter and word of mouth — is an interesting contrast with the modern day.

“That’s the only form of communication they had,” said Manning. “You only really knew things if you were a source.”

Junior Bailey Boyer, who is playing Tzeitel, feels that kind of communication will remind modern audiences of true values.

“Now, in society, we hide behind our screens, and back then it wasn’t like that,” she said. “You really had to be a person and share everything. You couldn’t just hide, or fade away.”

Refermat said approximately 50 students will join three staff and parent volunteers in presenting “Fiddler,” and he is encouraged by how quickly they have been able to appreciate subject matter that is so unfamiliar.

“This is my third year, and this is by far the most prepared group of students that we’ve had come through,” he said. “It has really been remarkable just to watch them grab hold of the material and really make it something that they want to participate in.”

JFK will present “Fiddler on the Roof” in three performances: at 7 p.m. Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 11.

All performances will take place in the auditorium of the high school, 305 Cayuga Creek Road.

Tickets for evening performances are $10 at the door and $8 presale, which can be ordered by contacting JFKHS DramaGroup@gmail.com.